Automatic gate-opener.



C. H. SIMPSON.

. AUTOMATIC GATE OPENER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13. 1916- I 1,216,740. Patented Feb. 20,1917.

2 SHEETS- SHEET I.

amoewtoz aflsimpson.

C. H. SIMPSON. AUTOMATIC GATE OPENER.

APPLICATION men mu :3. me. 1,216,740. Patented Feb. 20,1917.

' z susns-suzzr 2.

* UNITED vsrnrns PATENT QFFIGE;

cHARLEs-H. SIMPSON, or- IlOUISFiLLE KEFTTUCKY.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I,- OHABLEs H. SIMPSON,

2!.CltlZ6I1 of the United-States, residing at Louisville, in the county of Jefferson and State of Kentucky,'have' invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Gate-Openers, of which the following i's'a specification, n

My invention relates to improvements in gates and more particularly in gate operating mechanisms, the primary object of nism by means of which a gate may be opened and closed from a distance and,

' when closed, may be secured against swinging. 7

A-still further objectofmy invention conslsts in provlding a novel structure of the above described character by means of which the gate maybe operated from either side as to swing either toward in such a manner or away from the operator, as preferred.

In carrylng out my lnvention, I mount the gate forswinging movement and prooperatively connected to the latchso that by turningsuch part the latch may be re- 4 leased and the other part of each member ing of the-gate, the

being mounted for swinging movement and so arranged that upon release of the latch,

swinging of such part will cause a swinggate swinging 1n one direction or the other dependent uponthe direction ofgswinging of the "operating member. 1

A further object of my invention consists in providing a novel and efficient means for connecting the operating members to the latch and gate including a draglink adapted to be reciprocated 'by swingingof such members and serving as a housing for latch operating cables.

With these and other t invention will be more fully "described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and then specifically pointed out'in; the claims which are attached to and form. a part of this application.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the gate.

7 Specification of letter s lfatent." P

Fig. 3 taken through the level i Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken through one'of the operating members or t new and useful I my invention being the provislon of a simple and durable-mecha-=' trated objects in view, my

cordance with my invention;' V 1 Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan View,

'showmg certain featuresof the operating" mechanism; g 7

1s a fragmentary sectional view of the drag lmk;v

levers p v t Fig. 5 is a fragmentary-horizontal sectional view showing the connection of the atented Feb. 20; 11917. Application filed July 13, 1916. s rial'no. 109,077;

latch operating" cordswith the operating members Fig. 6'is a fragmentaryelevation; sh'ow-" ing the latch and keeper 2f gate in closed position;

Corresponding/and likejparts arere ferred to in the following description and indicated in all-theviews of the drawings by the same reference characters.

11 and latch stile 12, and a plurality ofhorizontal spaced rails .13. T

attheir other end-are secured between the b f c i j t P In order to insure a clear and accurate} understanding of my invention, I haveillusa gate 10 including a hinged stile he'rails at one end are mortisedr into the hinged stile 11 and spaced sectionsof the latclfistile. The gate further includes opposed'vertical braces 14 secured to opposite sides ofthe rails and in spaced relation. to the latch stile and opsecured to opposite; r

posed diagonal braces 15 sides of the rails. and extending fromithe upper portions of-the' vertical braces to the lower portion of the::hingedstile.-This gate is mounted to swing between'gate posts 16 and 17, the former'constituting the hinge post to support theggate; and the lattera'e keeper post to limit the-swinging movement inFig. l. of the drawof the gate and to secure it in closedposi-v A I tion. As best shown ings, thev gatestile 11 projects atitsupp'er end a considerable'distance above the up per rail-13 and ata point somewhat above this upper rail is reduced to forma cylindrical portion which seat'syin the tion 18 of'a U-shaped 19, the ends of which opposite sides ofthe hingepost 16.-,The lower end of the stilell :is provided with-a strap metal bearing.

trunnion; shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3

suitable bearing carv16,, softhat the gate v movement about the 110 at 20, which seats in a ried by the gatepost 10 is :free .for swinging bight por are secured against I "16 maybe provided with'a' platformor 'ped und, under thet 1 bearing 2 for the be formed form and d1 post. The post substantially "cross" shaped estal 21 resting upo which circumstances n the gro trunnion 20 will arms of the plat 22 will extend fro intermediate' p event, the low anchored in the ablysecured and th braced against any.

In like manner,- post 17 maybe pr edestal 23 from w extend to the post. anchored in the groun able means will be pr to the inne 5'which ext e of the post an diate its lengt atch receiving notchf a resilient ts lower end n at 28 and d from the tally connect-i, of the latch ted between the e braces of the 'lsof'the gate, is pivotallyat 30, to the intermediate ver 31 which ispivoted the lower gate r end of'the agon'al braces m the other arms to the er end of the post will be round or otherwise suite 7 post will be suitably tilting movement. e keeper post or ovided with a base or hich the braces 24 will If this post 17 is merely d or otherwise mountovided for bracface of the post ends transversely d which is i with a vering' it. Secured 17, is a keeper 2 of the inner fac rovi ded interme tically disposed *1 receive an intermediate latch bar 2 outer face 0 with itsupper en "(secured-at 1 f the stile 12, as show d normallyj sp The latch link-29 ispivo ed atone end -to --the;-free*"e bar 27; and isslid' members of the s n of the ra d of this link gate and -certai The opposite en connected, asshownportion of a latch at its'lower endto-:one of as shown at 32, the uppe ctingrabove the -t latch lever proje t ed preferably and beinglo'ca the hingestile '11.

At eitherlside of' the spaced any desired dist mount suppo'rti provided wit which maybe hinge post 16 and anoe. therefrom; I

which may be ngposts' 33 base" 34' and any." suitable bracedyas show however, these pos merely= set into th curetl'in proper posts may be within reason, gate,- they. arepr ts may be orotherwise se- -Although' these ted at any-desired from the hinge post of eferably disposed the-gate is swung to open gage againstone t's stile 12- will en mit its opening."-

its brace to li forward face of each et or bloclr36 which, 4, carries-a pivo and threade e 'in the threaded fa cylindric oted interm 7 Surround 39Which is of thep'osts or Secured to the a spacer bra'ck shown in Fig. ject'ing-fo'rw end to jen'gag diametrically o lever being-pi upon this pin 3 levers is a sleeve rotation about the lever, shown at- 40, for the pass t pin 37 pro-- d at its free, bore formed ever 38, the diate' its length" ing each of-these free forpartial being-slotted, as" age of the pivot pin 37. The upper ends of these sleeves terminate somewhat 'short of the upper ends of the levers 38 and carry peripherally grooved wheels-or drums 41, each "of which is provided with an eye 42. The sleeves at their lower 'ends-areprovided with substantially circular handles 43 in order that they may be" readily turned with respect to the shafts 38 This handle also, of course, permits subsequent swinging of both the shaft and its sleeve about their pivot 37 as will be later explained.- A'tubular drajg link 44 has its ends bifurcated for pivotal connection with the upper ends of the levers 38, as best shown at 45 in Fig; 4, and the intermediate portion of this drag link passes through an opening-46 formed in the upper portion of the hinge post 16, resting upon a supporting roller 47 mounted'within the opening and forming a support-for the-; link. Cords or cables 48, which may be offiber orwire, as preferred, are secured'attheir ends to the eyes 42" and-are passed inwardly through the'gate and are securedgto the ;.upp'er end of the latch lever 31'. Idler rollers or pulleys 52 are mounted w-ithi-nthelink 44 adjacent the slots 49'and- 5O 'and the cords-or cables 48 are passed over-- these} rollr s;- or pulleys in order to prevent chafing of-the cords through engagementwiththe walls of-the slots and in order toreduce theyforce necessary to pull the cables through-the link to operate the-latch.- 7

As-will be readily.- appreciated, turning of either of the sleeves-:39aboi1t its supporting lever 38;, in-either di-rection, will cause the tighteningof'that-cord 48 attached to such sleeve, which-will actfthrougli thelatch lever 31 to draw the-latch bar '27 outof engagement with the'keeper25 andrelease the gate.

The upper end of the hinge stile 11 of the gate/is reduced toform-a trunnion 53 to which is fixed -a grooved wheel or winding cord or cable 5 5is woundonce about the periphery-'of this Wheeler drum in such a mannerth'atits endfs extend past each other, as clearly'shown in Fig.2, these ends being secured to the drag link '44 adjacent the free endszofth'e-link by means o-f eyes 56 carried by the link. The intermediate portion of the cable at thatsideof'the wheel or drum opposite the-poifltwvhere the cable ends cross is anchored to the wheelor-drum to prevent slipping by. a staple 57 or other suitable fasteningidevice.

From the foregoing descri'ption of'my invention, taken in connection with the drawing-s," the operation'of'my' gate and its actugate to open position,

I ating mechanism will be readily understood.

7 ing lever being manipulated. It is, fore, possible with either gate operating by atoo firm scribed my ,leased, the entire gate operating member,

including the lever 38 and sleeve 39,,may be swung in either direction to swing the a-swinging of the lower end of either lever, in the direction ward the lever swung, the lever in the opposite direction will swing the gate away from the gate operattherelever to swing the gate in either direction. Obviously, assuming the gate to be open, it may be swung to closed position by swinging either closed position, its latch will automatically engage the keeper to lock the gate unless restrained from such movement grasp upon one or the other'of the handles. 1 7

Although I have illustrated and deinvention in all-its details of construction, it will of course be understood that I do not wish to be limited to such details but reserve the right to make any changes in the details or arrangement of parts which I find advisable, within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus what is claimed as new is with a swlngingly mounted gate, a latch for securing the gate in closed swingingly mounted latch lever for releasing the latch, of a hand lever pivoted intermediate its length, operative connection between the hand lever and by swinging of the hand leverwill swing the gate if the latch is released, a sleeve in closingthe lever and free to turn upon it, and operative connection between the sleeve and latch lever whereby turning of the sleeve will actuate the latch lever to release the latch.

2. A- gate construction posts, a gate swingingly the posts and including latch carried by the gate, by one of the posts and engageable by the latch, alatch lever swingingly mounted upon the gate and including gate mounted between a hinge stile, a a keeper carried with the hinge stile gate operating lever in the. proper direction. Obviously, gate reaches as soon as the,

ported by the described the invention,

In a gate mechanism,the combination and position, and agate wherean operatively connected to the latch, a drum having fixed connection whereby turning of the drum will turn the gate,

of the gate, means cooperating between the levels and drum whereby swinging of either lever will swing the gate if the latch is released, and means carried by the levers and operable'to release the latch, said means including sleevesencircling the levers and free for limited" turning movement thereabout, drums flexible elements connected tothe latch lever and operatively connected to the drums.

3. A gate construction including gate posts, a gate'having a hinge stile whereby 1t is swmgingly supported by one of the posts, a latch for securing the gate, normally against movement, a latchlever carried by the gate and operativelyconnected to the latch, a drum fixed to .the hinge stilewhereby turning of the drum will cause'swinging levers swingingly l mounted in spaced relationat opposite sides mounted upon the sleeves, and a of the gate, hand levers pivotally supported I at opposite sides of the hinged end of the gate and in spaced relation thereto, a drag link pivotally connected at its ends to corresponding ends ing its intermediate portion slidably supported, a flexible. element passed about the drum and connected at its endsto opposite end portions of the link "whereby. reciprocalever will swing the gate, and means carried by the hand levers for operating the latch lever. r

4. A gate construction including gate posts, a gate having a hinge stile whereby it is swingingly supported by one of the posts, a latch carried by the gate, a keeper carried by the other post and engageable by the latch, a latch lever carried by the gate operatively connected to t e latch, a drum fixed to the hinge stile whereby turning of the drum will cause swinging of the gate, hand levers pivotally supported at opposite sides of the hinged end of the gate d in spaced relation thereto, a drag link pivotally connected to corresponding ends of the hand levers, a fleXible el about the drum and connected opposite end portions reciprocation of the link through swinging of the levers will swing the gate, and carried by the levers for operating the latch lever, said means including sleeves mounted for limited turning movement at its. ends to about the levers, drums fixed to the sleeves,

of the hand levers and havpost by which the gate is sup- 1 ement passed of the link whereby tion of the link through swinging of a'hand In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

CHARLES H. sIMPsoN. a 8.]

addressing the Commissioner of Patents, 

